Of Playing Cards and Programming Code
by greenful
Summary: Celestia handed the pack of cards to Chihiro. As he reached out to take it, their hands touched, perhaps for a moment longer than necessary. Their eyes met, his a soft amber, hers a brilliant scarlet, and as he took the deck, they looked away. For her cold exterior, Celestia had every right to be so confident. Out of anyone he'd ever met, Ms. Ludenberg had the most right to be call
1. Chapter 1

Chihiro kept looking down to the piece of paper in his hand. _Rec room, after last block, bring laptop_. It was a weird message, but why not check it out? It was probably from some teacher or something who wanted help with some program. Or maybe it was a student who wanted help with homework. Chihiro wasn't quite the top of their class, but no one really felt they could talk with Kyoko, and Byakuya had such a bad attitude about interacting with "plebeians" that no one went to either of them for help. People wondered how Chihiro got such good grades, but he had the somewhat unfair advantage of a) already being a genius-level programmer and b) not really desiring to socialize, which c) led to a healthy study life, even if d) his social life wasn't as healthy.

Whoever it was that had sent the letter had known what they were talking about. The Rec room was consistently empty after last block. People usually only visited after dinner, when it was too cold and dark outside to goof around there. So, Chihiro found that only he and the sender of the note were in the room.

And the note-sender was none other than Celestia Ludenberg. Embodiment of everything Chihiro was not. Cool, confident, and calculating. Well, Chihiro had a little of that last trait, but only while programming. The Ultimate High School Level Gambler stood by the poker table, dealing cards.

"Ah… Celestia?" Chihiro inquired, small voice the only sound other than the cards flipping one by one.

"Ah, Chihiro. I've just finished dealing. Would you care for a game?"

"S-sure." Chihiro made his way to the table and picked up his cards. A decent hand, though he wasn't quite sure how far to go with it. He managed to get a profit the first few rounds, but by the fourth round, he had started losing, big time. The pile of poker chips before him dwindled quickly, and eventually, there was nothing left.

After Celestia gathered all the chips to her side of the table, she smiled good-naturedly. "Good game. It's obvious I was going to win, but you put up a good fight. You're good at lying." She smiled. "Just not as good as me."

Unsure how to take the compliment, Chihiro stammered, "Th-thanks, I guess." He then got to the question that had been nagging him for a while. "So why did you call me here, Celestia? What can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm considering some new strategies for some of my favourite games of chance, but in order to evaluate how good they are, I'd like to run some trails of it. But there's not really anyone at this school that's quite good enough for me to really test myself against. I was wondering if you could create a training program of sorts."

Chihiro was mildly shocked. Celestia had never been the type to ask for help. Anything she couldn't do on her own, she simply didn't do. It warmed Chihiro's heart that she would reach out to him like that.

"Of course, Celestia. I'll get working on that." Chihiro offered a smile and opened up his laptop. "Do you mind if I just look over the deck? It sometimes helps to have a physical analogue to get inspiration from."

"Certainly, Chihiro." Celestia handed the pack of cards to Chihiro. As he reached out to take it, their hands touched, perhaps for a moment longer than necessary. Their eyes met, his a soft amber, hers a brilliant scarlet, and as he took the deck, they looked away. For her cold exterior, Celestia had every right to be so confident. Out of anyone he'd ever met, Ms. Ludenberg had the most right to be called truly beautiful. Like an antique painting, the epitome of loveliness, yet utterly unattainable.

He shook his head, to clear it. As amazing as Celestia was, he had to focus on the program. And before long, they were both in worlds of their own, Chihiro tapping away at his keyboard, and Celestia reading a biography of Marie Antoinette. The two of them, so absorbed in their respective objects of interest, hardly noticed the time flying by. As the Ultimate Programmer did his programming, a small face appeared in the bottom right-hand corner of his laptop screen.

"Um… Master?" the small, slightly computerized voice of Alter Ego chimed in from the edge of the screen.

Chihiro responded, not skipping a beat. "What is it, Alter Ego? I'm a little busy." He kept typing. He'd gotten good at multitasking over the years.

"Dinner started a little while ago. You seemed pretty in the zone, so I didn't want to interrupt, but you'll totally miss it at this rate." Alter Ego pulled up a digital clock for Chihiro to see. "Don't worry, I've saved all your work so far, so you can just get going."

"Thanks! I'll finish it up later, I guess." Chihiro shot out of his seat, closed the laptop, and turned to Celestia. "Uh… Celestia? Dinner started a while ago, apparently. We should head down if we want to get any food before it's over."

Celestia elegantly marked her place in the biography and closed it. Chihiro had never even considered that inserting a bookmark could be elegant, but the gambler pulled it off. "Very well, let us head down to the dining hall." And so they did just that.

The dining hall was full of the bustle of all the main course students eating their dinner, the scraping of utensils on the plates, and the din of all those Ultimates chatting away. There were only a few seats left, because they were so late, so Celestia and Chihiro were forced into two seats right next to each other in the corner of the room. Well, they weren't really forced. There were other options, but then they would have been by themselves, and from that afternoon together, it seemed they enjoyed each other's company.

They took some plates, and were served the night's dinner (spaghetti), and found their seats. The others at the table were also in varying stages of starting their dinner. Those others at the table were Mondo Oowada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Hifumi Yamada, and Byakuya Togami. An unlikely group, to be sure.

Togami looked up from his spaghetti, which he had just been cutting with his knife. "Ah, Celestia. It's a pleasure to see that I'll at least be spending part of this dinner with someone close to my social standing."

"Certainly, Byakuya. The same goes to you." She gave her perfect little smile, set down her plate, folded down her petticoat, and sat down. She smoothed out her dress, placed a napkin upon it, and began cutting her spaghetti as well.

"I didn't even think it was possible for more insufferable company to show up…" Mondo grumbled to himself, as he jabbed his fork into the pasta, and unceremoniously brought it to his mouth.

"Oowada! That sort of speech cuts down fellow classmates, and is frankly not welcome in a school environment!" Ishimaru was quick to chastise the biker for his brash behaviour.

"Sure, sure, Mr. Perfect. Check it, it's not all bad. Good ol' Chi here is perfectly nice company. She doesn't think she's better than nobody. Hell, she's some of the best our class has to offer!" The compliment, nice though it was, lost some of its impact due to the strands of spaghetti still dangling out of Mondo's mouth as he spoke.

"Still, you should apologize to the rest at the table. You have spoken poorly of them." Ishimaru would not budge an inch.

"Yes, quite right!" Hifumi adjusted his glasses. "You can go ahead and badmouth the rest, but Ms. Ludenberg is quite-"

"Oh, do silence yourself, underling. As if I would need a defense from you." Celestia kept her refined composure, even as she cut him down. "And there's no need for apology from that thug either. I understand how people as lowly as you could be inspired to be jealous of me." She giggled, and took a dignified bite of her pasta.

Throughout this whole exchange, Chihiro tried to disappear. He shyly spun the pasta around his fork, and took small bites. He just wanted to make himself as unnoticed as possible so he could sneak away easily after he was done eating.

Gradually, a sort of normal conversation emerged among Hifumi, Ishimaru, and Mondo. Byakuya and Celestia, naturally kept themselves out of it, and Chihiro spoke only when spoken to. After a sufficiently awkward length of time, dinner was over, and the students began leaving to go to their rooms, or hang out, or whatever they really wanted until curfew at 10 pm. As Chihiro was going to his room, to work more on the simulation, Celestia caught up to him.

"So, Chihiro. When do you suppose the program will be ready?" She asked, her cute little smile ever-present.

"Well, I was pretty close before we left for dinner, so maybe tomorrow? I won't really know if it's finished until you test it out, but I think tomorrow would be a good time for that."

"Delightful. I don't suppose that, other than that, of course, you'd be free tomorrow?"

"Sure, Celestia. What did you have in mind?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go to a cafe with me. Frankly, it's the only place around here to get good royal milk tea. No one else can get it right. I'd be quite happy if you'd accompany me. You are pleasant to be around, Chihiro."

"Ok." Chihiro thought it over. He presented as female, and as far as anyone knew, he was a girl. So there was no reason to get flustered. He was the only one that would be aware that a beautiful girl had just asked him, a boy, out for tea. Obviously it wasn't a date. Obviously. He didn't even know if Celestia liked guys. But he couldn't help the thought from coming. "Sure, Celestia. That sounds nice. Maybe I'll just show you the program there." Of course, it would be a great opportunity to do some work on their project.

"It's a date then, Chihiro." Celestia walked away. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she glided away. _Okay_ , Chihiro thought, _she just called it a date. But that's obviously as in, tomorrow is the date that we will meet. Clearly. She's a girl, and for all she knows, I am. My secret's safe, we're just two friends going out for tea_. But even though he tried to think about it that way, a faint blush dusted his cheeks as he considered the two of them, sitting across from each other at the cafe. He rushed back to his room, before anyone could notice the state he was in.

Chihiro tried to work on the program, he really did try. But he was just flustered, and couldn't quite manage it. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. He wasn't making any progress.

Alter Ego popped up on the computer screen. "Master? Are you alright? You seem a little flustered."

"It's fine. I'm just having a little trouble with this program right now." He ran his hand through his hair.

"Are you sure? You seem a little under the weather."

"What do you mean, Alter Ego?"

"You have an elevated heart rate, your temperature is up, and you are having difficulty concentrating. I think you're sick, Master." Alter Ego's icon shifted so it was now wearing a white doctor's coat and a stethoscope.

Chihiro wasn't really sure where Alter Ego was going with this. "What do you think I have Alter Ego?"

Alter Ego pointed directly at Chihiro. "You. Are. Lovesick." The screen took on a rosy tint, and the borders became decorated with hearts.

Chihiro's eyes widened. He felt like he had become a tomato, with how red his face went. "W-what?"

"And that reaction confirms it!" Alter Ego grinned. "My prescription is simple. Confess to whoever it is you're in love with, go on a date, get married, and have some kids. I'll be the cool uncle." He gave a thumbs up.

"Alter Ego!" Chihiro's face felt like it was on fire. "What's gotten into you?"

Alter Ego clasped his hands behind his back, and smiled shyly. "I really like your upgrade to my personality cortex. The extra memory really gives me some new toys to play with."

Chihiro puffed out his cheeks and huffed at his AI. "I think I need to dial back your sass cortex, Alter Ego."

The AI held up his hands apologetically. "Sorry Master. I was just joking around. Do what you want with this crush of yours. I'm just an AI. I know even less about romance than you do. Just go for it, Master."

"Thanks." Chihiro rolled his eyes. As aggravating as the AI could be sometimes, he was still good company. And his gentle kidding had helped clear his head. He could sort through his romantic dilemma tomorrow. Tonight was for programming. And that's just what he did. He settled back down before the computer, and typed away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chihiro finished double checking the program. He'd just finished it earlier that morning, and he thought it would be for the best if he checked it one more time before he went to meet Celestia. All the code looked like it was in order, and the trials he'd run had been successes, so he closed his laptop and headed out.

As he exited the Academy, he pulled out his significantly modified smartphone. Alter Ego's face popped up. "You need directions, Master?"

"No, I've seen the cafe before. Just haven't been inside before."

"Well, I hope you have fun!" Alter Ego winked. Before Chihiro could retort, he just giggled, and said "Just kidding, Master. I'll power off while you two have your date."

"It's not a date!" Chihiro insisted, but the screen had gone black. He sighed. At least the little shipper would stay quiet during his not-a-date.

Eventually, he noticed the cafe. A solitary building a little away from the sidewalk. There was a walkway up to the entrance. As he entered, Chihiro was stunned.

It was as though Chihiro had left the modern world and entered a Victorian mansion. Inside was a dimly lit, atmospheric, classy interior. It was predominantly lit with candles, but it was enjoyably cool. There were some tables surrounded by chairs, but there were mostly booths which provided a large amount of privacy. Behind the counter, there was a chalkboard with the words _Le Joueur_ written in beautiful calligraphy on it. Below it, there was a list of fancy-sounding drinks. However, it didn't really seem pretentious. Chihiro could tell from the feeling the building left him with, that the drinks were exactly as good as their names suggested. He was still taking in the elegant, foreign atmosphere, when a voice called out to him.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle." It came from the man behind the counter. He wore a white button-up with a black bow-tie and dress pants. Between his bright, shoulder length blond hair, his brilliant blue eyes, and his accent, it was clear he was a foreigner. "Bienvenue aux ma cafe!"

Chihiro didn't really understand anything other than 'cafe', so he just nodded and said, "Th-thanks?"

The man smiled gently. "Ah, my apologies. I sometimes forget that not everyone speaks my native tongue. What can I get for you, ma chere?"

"Oh, I was just meeting a friend here. Have you noticed her around?"

"The lady in the lovely petticoat?"

"Y-yeah. She's here?"

"Oui. She is a regular here. Since you are her friend, and as this is your first visit, I shall offer your drink on the house. Do you have a preference?"

Chihiro just shook his head.

"Of course, I shall just get you the same as your date. She is over in that booth." He made a grand gesture.

"We're not…" Chihiro started to protest, but then just gave up.

"Of course you are not. Not to worry, except for bringing you your drinks, I shall leave the two of you well alone. Just call if you need anything." He winked, and waved Chihiro off to the booth.

"Ah, Chihiro. Welcome." Celestia smiled genially and waved. Chihiro was kind of blown away. While the gambler's outfit was tremendously out of place in almost every environment, she was dressed incredibly appropriately here. She was no longer a high school student in the modern era, but a great lady, a member of the highest nobility. "Do sit down." She motioned to the other side of the booth. Chihiro obliged.

"H-hi, Celestia." Chihiro stammered. His legs didn't quite reach the ground in this chair, so his legs awkwardly swung as he tried to generate a conversation.

"How is the program coming along, Chihiro?" Celestia saved Chihiro from having to come up with a topic by himself.

"Oh, it's essentially finished. I'd just have to see the program play against a professional like you. I've lost almost every time, but I don't know how you'd do against it."

"Well, why don't we find out?"

"Uh… sure! I'll just get it started." Chihiro opened his laptop. He typed in a few pieces of code, and the program started up. He turned the laptop to Celeste. As it loaded, a virtual casino showed up, and the point of view made it appear as though the player (Celeste in this case) was seated at a poker table, with a well-dressed dealer, and a 'select # of players' menu.

"Chihiro, this is… beautiful!" Celeste was quite impressed.

Chihiro just shrugged and put a hand behind his head. "This much isn't even that great. There's a whole bunch of open-source poker simulators that I drew inspiration from. Simulating the actual game and graphics isn't the difficulty, it's the other players' AI that's the tough bit."

"Fascinating." Celeste was engrossed by the game. She selected 'two player' on the menu, and it went to a loading screen.

"Sorry about all the loading. The AI was pretty complex for this, because it had to be as lifelike as possible." Chihiro said. "And designing the other players was tough. Ryota Mitarai from the 77th class helped out animating them. Hopefully it all worked out pretty well. But I won't know how it turned out until you test it."

Celeste thought for a moment. "But it is not the same without something to bet on. And since I'm playing against a computer, shall the two of us do the betting?"

"...Okay." Chihiro said. "But I don't really have much money. Do you have any ideas?"

"I'm not sure. But this is your creation, so you can decide what we bet with."

"Alright." Chihiro thought about it for a moment. He really wanted to get to know Celeste better, so… "How about questions? Depending on who wins each round, the loser has to answer any question. Ideally, with the truth. How does that sound, Celestia?"

Celeste paused. She twirled her hair with her finger. "Alright." She said, after a long period. "But be prepared to answer quite a few questions. I don't lose easily."

However, Chihiro's programming won the first round. "I always take a few rounds' loss at first." Celeste explained. "It allows me to take better stock of my opponent's skills."

"Of course." Chihiro humoured her. Maybe she was telling the truth, as he had managed a round against her back in the rec room, but he liked to entertain the idea that he had managed to beat her through his program.

"So, what would you like to know?" Celeste asked.

Chihiro tapped a finger against his chin as he thought. He'd have to ask something semi-personal, but not creepily intimate. Something he'd be interested in knowing, but if she questioned him about it, it would have to be something he could laugh off. "How about… what is one of your habits?"

Celeste smiled the way she tended to when collecting on a bet. "Very well. I have something of a habit of classifying the people around me with 'ranks'. The system is rather simple. Most individuals are D ranks: while they do not particularly interest me, I find no particular issue with them. They bore me, but are not offensive to me. F ranks are utterly deplorable. I consider the C ranks to be rather interesting, enough so that they may be considered 'knights' in servitude to me. B rank is above C and A rank is highest of all."

"Well, what rank am I, Celeste?"

"That… will have to wait until you manage to beat me in another round. Good luck with that." Celestia said. Chihiro blinked. Had he seen the faintest of blushes underneath all of Celeste's pale foundation? No, no, certainly not. Why would she be blushing over something like that? He shrugged.

"Alright. Let's play again, then." Chihiro was not so lucky the next round. It appeared that Celestia had decided to start playing for keeps.

"Oh, dear. It looks like I win." She laced her hands together. "Now it's time for you to answer one of my questions."

"Sure, Celeste. What would you like to know?"

"When did you start programming? You are quite good at it, and it just seems like programming is more of a… male thing."

"Ah." He tried as hard as he could to keep the cringing internal. "S-sorry, Celeste. You probably think I'm really weird, don't you..." He looked at the ground. _What am I apologizing for? I AM male. What is wrong with that?_

"Oh, no. That is not at all what I meant, Chihiro. I find no issue with it. But I was curious why you would… choose to defy gender roles like that. I suppose that was the essence of my question. Apologies."

Chihiro took a deep breath, and began. "Well, when I was a kid, I was kind of a sickly kid. Just weak and frail, you know? And nobody else really liked me much back then. Not that much has changed since then… Anyway, that kind of kept me from playing around outside with the other kids. So I stayed inside. I guess I just started messing around on my dad's computer one day. I didn't plan to start programming anything, but the coding language came so naturally to me. It's like I was born fluent in Java. Anyway, I just played with the coding until I had made a simple information retrieval system which utilized voice input. I guess that's when it started."

"Fascinating, Chihiro. But I do not like the way you keep putting yourself down. I do not know how you were in the past, but presently, you are among the most… interesting people I have met. And you do not seem weak to me. The abilities you have displayed to me are not frail. Even if you can not best me in games of chance, this program you have created is quite well crafted."

"Okay… thanks." Coming from most other people, being called 'interesting' might not have had as much of an impact on Chihiro. But when Celeste said that, he could tell it meant so much more. _For Celeste to find me interesting… that must be quite a compliment!_ He felt a heat rise in his cheeks, and tried to change the subject. "Enough about me, Celeste. How about-"

"Ahem." A tall gentleman interrupted their dialogue. "So sorry to intrude, but I've brought your tea for you."

"Ah, thank you." Celeste said, taking her tea cup.

"Please, enjoy." the waiter said, and left.

Chihiro took a sip of his tea. It really was some of the best tea he'd ever had. But as nice as the tea and the waiter were, the interruption had nonetheless broken the flow of the conversation. "What were we just talking about?" Chihiro asked.

"I really am not quite sure." Celeste answered. There was a silence. Not too long, but long enough for Chihiro to start feeling awkward. So it really wasn't actually that long.

"Er… want to play again?" Chihiro asked.

"To be frank, I'd actually rather just take the program home and experiment with it. While we are here together, let us engage each other. You fascinate me." She took a delicate sip of her tea.

"Sure, Celeste." Chihiro panicked internally. _How do you talk to people without a simple question-answer system? I don't know how socializing works!_ His mind went to the first thing he saw. "So, you like the tea here?" He almost immediately cringed. _Agh, of course she likes the tea here, otherwise she wouldn't drink it!_

"Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn't drink it." Chihiro died a little inside. "You see, they are the only ones that can make it to my standard." Celeste's eyes darkened. "It's a shame about all the other places which advertise royal milk tea, but in reality can not even create swill fit for the pigs." Then she smiled again. "That's why I drink here. The tea is good, and the atmosphere is divine."

"Okay…" Chihiro really had no idea how to progress the conversation. Fortunately, Celeste rescued him.

"So Chihiro, what do you spend your time doing? Outside of schoolwork that is. You hardly go out, what is so enthralling about the inside of your dorm room?"

Chihiro latched onto the conversational life raft she had thrown him. Even though he didn't like talking about himself too much, it was fair. If he wanted to get to know Celeste better, it made sense that she would get to know him better. "Well, I've been working on this project for a while. It's kind of linked with virtual reality and stuff. I've been working with Miaya Gekkogahara and Yasuke Matsuda on it. They're the Ultimate Therapist and Neurologist, in case you didn't know. It essentially creates a fully immersive virtual reality experience. I do the programming, they sort through getting the user's brain fully engaged in it. Anyway, it's been super fun working with them, and I really hope it's useful when it's finished. That's mostly what I've been up to recently."

Celeste was quiet for a moment. "Chihiro, you must be tremendously good to pull that off."

Chihiro flushed. "Ah… I guess I am called the ultimate programmer… But I'm not the only Ultimate here, Celeste. What's something you've accomplished?"

"I once played a game with my very life on the line. It was in a rich old man's mansion. We played a variant of mahjong, I believe we used glass tiles. Regardless, I played the old man and this young boy with silver hair. They were supposedly legendary at the game, and I defeated them both, and escaped with my life."

Chihiro's jaw dropped. "That's… that's amazing! To think you have enough confidence to put your own life on the line in a game of chance! That's amazing!"

"It's not chance when you're certain of your victory. I did not play around with them. I went straight for the metaphorical kill." She went to take a sip from her teacup, and found it empty. "Oh. It seems I've finished my beverage."

Chihiro looked down at his. "Me, too. Wow, I totally get what you mean. That was a great drink."

"That's why I come here." Celeste smiled. "But, seeing as we're finished our drinks, and to be honest, our conversation is stagnating, let us just call an end to this gathering of ours."

Chihiro had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, it meant he didn't have to try to sustain a conversation anymore. That was always a bonus. But on the downside, it meant he wouldn't be able to be with Celestia anymore. But, what the Queen of Liars wants, the Queen of Liars gets. "Sure, Celeste. I'll see you later." He pulled out a USB drive and held it in front of Celestia. "This has a copy of the program. You know, in case you want to practice at home."

"Thank you, Chihiro. I'll do that." She went to take the drive. Once again, when their hands touched, the nerves in Chihiro's hand lit up. Chihiro panicked.

"Okay Celestia, I'll see you later, goodbye!" Chihiro grabbed his laptop. Then he kind of dashed off. Not really the most tactful of exits, but Chihiro wasn't really the most tactful of people.

Chihiro was something of a mess when he got back to his room. Exhausted from the prolonged social interaction, and totally disheveled from his power walk back to his dorm. He'd wanted to run home, but running wasn't really his thing. Alter Ego booted up on his desktop and greeted him. "Hi, Master! How did the date go?"

Chihiro sighed. "I don't know, Alter Ego." He collapsed onto his bed. "I mean, we talked for awhile, and she didn't seem put off by me. And it was great talking with her, but I just didn't know what to do. I'm so terrible at socializing."

"I see." Alter Ego nodded. "So you're thoroughly twitterpated, then?"

"I guess? I'm not sure. Alter Ego, do I look like the sort of person who is good at socializing?"

"No."

Chihiro groaned. "It was a rhetorical question, come on!"

"How do I know when a question is rhetorical? You should tell me that it's rhetorical before you ask it next time."

"Do people usually tell the other person that they're asking a rhetorical question?"

"I don't know, master-"

"That was another rhetorical question. Jeez…" Chihiro took a deep breath. "Sorry for getting so frustrated, Alter Ego. I just don't know what to do about Celeste. I've never had a crush like this before."

"I can produce a flow chart, if you want."

"A flow chart."

"Yeah, check it out!" A flow chart appeared on the screen. "If you confess your feelings for her, she could either like you back romantically, or not. If she does, great! If not, she either likes you back as a friend, or not. If she does, that's almost as good: you can still be friends with her. If she doesn't like you back as a friend, then it'll go back to how it was before you hung out with her at the rec room, and she'll be indifferent to you. You weren't miserable then, so you won't be miserable after finding out. And no matter which answer it is, you'll at least know for certain how she feels, and that'll be a load off your mind." Alter Ego smiled. "Did that help?"

Chihiro murmured a quiet "No, not really," before he just let out a small "blegh."

"Are you alright, Master?"

"I'm not, Alter Ego. I'm lovesick."

Alter Ego used his tact processor to wait an appropriate amount of time before he stated, "Told you so." After an enormous eye roll from his programmer, he said, "It's jokes, Master. I'll leave you alone for a bit."

"Thanks." Chihiro lay on the bed for a moment. He thought to himself, _I need a nap_. So he just closed his eyes and started to drowse for a while. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when he was suddenly awakened by a loud knocking at his door.

"CHIHIROOOOOOO!" The girlish, bubbly voice pierced through the wall. "LET ME IIIIIIIIIN!"

Chihiro fumbled his way out of bed. "Coming!" he responded. He rushed to the door and opened it. "Asahina?"

"Hi, Chihiro!" She bounced.

"What can I do for you, Asahina?"

"I'm boooooored, Chihiro."

"That's a shame."

"Soooo, I came up with a great plan."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Girl's night! I'm hosting a sleepover for all the girls in our class!"

"And?"

"So you're invited, silly!"

Chihiro screamed internally. He was kind of trapped. If he refused to go, he'd let down Asahina and make himself look suspicious. If he went, he'd have to spend a whole night in constant social contact. Beyond that, it would be prolonged socialization with a gaggle of teenage girls in pajamas, intoxicated on sugar and fatigue. Chihiro was sure it would be a dream come true for some (a certain Ultimate Chef came to mind), but to him it was quite the intimidating endeavour. He started constructing a pro-con chart in his head. "All the girls in class will be there?"

"Yeah. It'd be mean if I didn't invite everyone. So Sakura's gonna be there (obviously, she practically lives in my dorm) and Sayaka, and Touko, and Junko, and Mukuro, and Kyoko, and even Celestia!" Asahina stopped for a moment. "Oh, and me. And you too. But that kind of goes without saying, right?"

"Yeah, totally." Chihiro's heart did a jig. Celeste would be there. He was bothered at how quickly he had kind of fallen in love with her. The pro-con chart disappeared. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Actually? Chihiro, that's so awesome!" Asahina trapped Chihiro in a strong embrace. Beyond the usual feeling of being uncomfortable Chihiro associated with most physical contact there was another layer here. This is because Asahina was kind of suffocating Chihiro with her chest.

"Asahina! I can't breathe!" Chihiro said. Actually, that's just what he tried to say. What actually came out of his mouth was, "Mffhmmhnm! Mmm phnt brfff!"

"Oh, sorry Chi!" Asahina relinquished her grip, and Chihiro gasped for air.

"No problem, Asahina…" Chihiro said. "When is it?"

"Oh, you guys can just come over after dinner. Now, I have to go invite everyone else!" Then Asahina bounded off to whoever's dorm she was going to assault next.

Chihiro shook his head. What had he gotten himself into? _At least it's still the weekend. I'll have Sunday to recover from this all-nighter_. Besides, he'd pulled off plenty of all-nighters before, to finish up programs at the last minute. How different could it be with all those girls present?

He looked at his phone. 3:00 pm. Dinner started at 5:30. Time to start packing. He was a minimalist in this regard. He picked up a small overnight bag, and threw in his toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, and pajamas. Well, he called them pajamas, but they were really just an oversized guys' t-shirt and drawstring shorts. He figured it was normal enough for girls to wear that sort of thing as pajamas. And even if it wasn't, the other Ultimates weren't really that normal anyway. Besides, he didn't really have any 'girly' pajamas. Though with his luck, he probably managed to make them look really girly anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

Dinner came and went, but the anxiety inside Chihiro didn't. Dinner was his last opportunity for solitude until after the sleepover, and he planned to cherish it. He found a seat in the corner of the room, and just ate by himself. Not bothered by other students, or his salty AI. Just a few heavenly minutes alone.

Of course, this makes it sound like he was entirely against the get-together. And he certainly was uneasy about it, but over the past two days, he'd learned that he could get some enjoyment out of social situations, even if they also made him uncomfortable a lot of the time. He made a firm decision to try his best to enjoy the overnighter. He finished his food, brought his plate to the receptacle for dirty dishes, and went off to Asahina's room.

He steeled himself, and knocked on the door. "Asahina? I'm here." The reply was almost immediate.

"C'mon in, Chi! Door's unlocked!" Asahina called from inside the room.

He tried the door. "No it isn't." He called back.

"Could someone else get the door? I'm trying to deal with this left hand on green right now!" Asahina shouted. A few seconds later, the door opened, Kirigiri just behind it.

"Welcome. Prepare yourself for quite the evening." Kirigiri said, her voice as even as ever.

"Are they -"

"Yes. They are playing Twister." There was a loud thump from inside the dorm. "Come in, Chihiro." They both went in, and Chihiro rushed to where he heard the loud sound. Mukuro Ikusaba was lying, dazed, on top of Asahina, Maizono, and Junko.

"Jeez, what was that about, Mukuro?" Maizono said, as she struggled to get up.

"Sorry, I-"

"No, it was my fault." Junko said, eyes downcast, mushrooms atop her head. "I tripped her while she was moving. How despair inducing!" Halfway through the sentence, the mushrooms disappeared, and a crown showed up mysteriously instead.

"Sis, could you maybe not, for like, one night?" Mukuro mumbled.

"Yeah, Twister's no fun if you trip people up on purpose! Then we get all tangled up with each other, and everybody's touching, and, and…" Asahina shook her head. "Anyway, that's how you lose the game. Let's have another round!" Her eyes locked onto Chihiro. "Oh, Chi's here! You haven't had a turn yet, have you?"

Chihiro cringed. "No, Asahina, I haven't. And I'm totally okay with that."

"Oh, don't be that way! I didn't think it would be nearly as fun as it actually is!" Asahina ran up to Chihiro. "Did you know that I'd never played this before? Maizono brought it! Also, did you know that she knew Junko before they came to Hope's Peak? And -"

"Asahina. Remember to breathe." Sakura said. "Endurance is key when engaging in distance sports. Tonight will be a marathon, not a sprint."

"Yeah, I think I'm getting that vibe…" Chihiro said.

"Oh, Sakura, you say that like this is gonna be an ordeal!" Asahina said. "It's a sleepover! It'll be fuuuun!"

"So, like, are we playing again, or is this it? 'Cause TBH, I always have more fun with strip Twister." Junko interrupted.

"Of course you do, you like strip of any game better..." Mukuro sighed.

"Do as you all wish, I shall still operate this spinning machine, delivering commands from on high. Frankly, it seems like the most enjoyable part of this particular game." Celestia said, sitting in a chair with pristine posture, resting the spinner on her lap.

Chihiro scrambled for excuses to not play. "Yeah… I'll help with that."

"Okay, people who didn't play last time, you're all playing now." Maizono said. "I didn't bring this game for not everyone to play it!"

"U-Unacceptable!" cried out the shrill voice of Touko Fukawa.

"What's her problem?" Junko said, to no one in particular.

"My p-problem is that th-this Twister game is a construct of the super-attractive to lord their beautiful figures over those who aren't as naturally flexible or well-endowed as they are!" She pointed accusingly at Junko. "Forced participation in such a game is a form of discrimination!"

Junko stuck out her tongue. "Aaah, you're just jealous I've actually got a rack. You're as flat as the paper your books are made of!"

"Why, you-" Fukawa was interrupted by a donut being unceremoniously shoved into her mouth. Before Junko could laugh at her, she suffered the same fate.

"There!" Asahina said, a wide grin on her face. "Nobody has to play any games they don't want to, okay?"

"Yeah, I guess it's not as fun if not everyone who's playing wants to." Maizono chimed in. "But everyone who wants to can go this time!"

"I think I'll sit out this round," Mukuro offered. "I need a little time to recover."

"If it's alright with everyone, I would like to play a round." Sakura said. "It could be a good test of how my flexibility training is going."

"Yeah, no thanks. I've had my fill of getting sat on." Junko said.

"Well, maybe if somebody hadn't tripped me…" Mukuro mumbled, with… was that a blush on her face? Chihiro decided not to think about it.

"How about you, Chi?" Asahina asked. "You want to play a round? Didn't quite hear your answer last time."

"Um… I'm not sure if I-" Chihiro tried to respond, but was interrupted.

"It's really fun Chihiro, but I get if you don't want to." Maizono said.

"Um, well…" Chihiro stammered for an answer.

"You potentially have an advantage, you know." Kirigiri said from the corner of the room. "Your size may allow you a greater degree of maneuverability."

Chihiro puffed out his cheeks. "... Alright. I'll give it a shot."

Unsurprisingly, Chihiro was the first to drop out. Sakura, despite her size, was incredibly flexible, and the athleticism of the Ultimate Swimmer and Idol gave them the edge that the unfortunately sedentary Programmer lacked.

Chihiro sighed as he extricated himself from the increasingly-tangled group of Twister players. He sat on the floor and tried to regain some of the dignity he had lost in losing so quickly. The soft giggle he heard from next to him immediately showed the fruitlessness of this effort.

He looked to his side, and saw only the legs of a chair. Looking up, he saw the ever-dignified resident of the chair: Celestia. _Oh, of course the seat I randomly picked happened to be right beside my crush. Should I blame fate, or my stupid subconscious?_

"It was a noble effort, Chihiro." the dazzling gambler said, looking down at him. "I must say I was impressed by your spirit. Frankly, I didn't expect you to even make the attempt."

Chihiro knew this was meant to be a compliment, but couldn't help himself from feeling a slight sting. "Th-thanks, Celestia. I didn't really expect to, either…"

"As a consolation prize, would you like to spin the wheel a few times? I must admit, the power rush it gives you is quite phenomenal." She finished the offer with her trademark giggle, hand delicately covering her lips.

"Uh… sure. Thanks!" Chihiro accepted the wheel hesitantly. He cautiously flicked the spinner, and flinched away as it rapidly spun. No doubt, Celestia was getting a kick out of his timidity. Finally, the spinner landed, and Chihiro called out in the quiet voice that was, unfortunately, his maximum volume, "R-right foot g-green!"

The collective groan as the mass of girls shifted their weight in vain attempts not to fall rocked Chihiro's emotions. The unexpected, heady, rush of power that filled him was almost overwhelming. He quickly passed the spinner back to Celestia.

"Thanks, but I think it's better if you handle this. With great power comes great responsibility, and I'm not sure I'm quite ready to hold the fate of this Twister game in my hands."

"Certainly, but I think the die of fate has already been cast." Celestia's eyes were rooted to the Twister mat. Asahina's position had been tremulous enough before Chihiro's edict, but stretching her leg to get her right foot to a green proved too much, and she collapsed, bringing the rest of the girls down with her. Chihiro couldn't help but feel a rush of relief, knowing that even if he had unwittingly ended the game, he was not getting tangled up in the ball of girls he saw before him.

"Like, I know you're all having a great time, but I just can't get into it if there aren't any stakes, y'know?" Junko said, rolling her eyes.

"I swear, if this is another attempt to try to seduce us into debauchery, it isn't going to work!" Touko fumed. "We won't be playing 'strip' of anything, you harlot!"

"Could you, like, chillax a little? Nobody's going to be doing anything they don't really want to." She pouted her lips, and gave the biggest kitty-eyes she could manage.

"What were you thinking of, Junko?" Maizono asked.

"Only the most classic of sleep-over games!" Junko said, placing glasses on her face. "Today, students, we play the ever-classic Truth or Dare!"

Before Chihiro, or any of the few opposed could even try to retort, the others had gotten so excited that no one wanted to hurt their feelings. They all sat in a circle on the floor (except Celestia, who still remained seated above everyone else, on her chair).

"Okay guys, who's gonna start?" Asahina asked, bouncing up and down.

"Well, you seem pretty eager there. Truth or dare?" Maizono responded.

"Er… truth?" Asahina said, hesitant.

"Boooooring~" Junko said.

"You know, for someone who hates being bored so much, you can be awfully predictable." Kirigiri retorted.

"Now, now, girls. I still have to come up with a question for our willing volunteer!" Maizono said. She thought it over for a moment, and, with a sort of ah-hah, exclaimed, "I've got it! What is the cringiest moment you have ever been a part of since you've been at Hope's Peak?"

There was a collective "ooh" throughout the dorm room. The question prompted Chihiro to look back at a nearly infinite list of cringe-worthy experiences he'd been forced to participate in. The group waited on baited breath for what Asahina would tell them.

"Well, gosh, it's hard to think of a good one, hmm…" She tapped her chin. "Oh, I know! It was on the first day I arrived." Her eyes widened, as she tried to set the scene. "So, I had just finished dropping off all my stuff in my dorm, and I thought to myself, "Well, that sure was a lot of work. I think I've earned a little snack!" So I made my way down to the cafeteria, and guess who the first one to greet me was. The first person!" She only waited a moment before continuing. "Yeah, that's right! Teruteru from the 77th class!"

The entire room groaned. They already knew where this was going.

"So there I am, just innocently looking for a harmless little snack, and he comes up to me. I don't know anybody here yet, so I don't know any better, and let him strike up a conversation with me. And the worst part is that he's actually semi-normal for the first bit of the conversation!" She crosses her arms in a show of something between defiance and self-preservation.

"But as soon as I mention I'm looking around for donuts, he gets this absolutely evil look in his eye! The very next thing he says is something like "Oh yeah? I've always been fairly fond of the cream filling myself!" And that wouldn't be creepy on its own, if he hadn't said it the way he said it!" She visibly shivers. "Then he says he actually likes the donuts with holes in them a lot more… and adds on that he likes _other_ kinds of holes, too!"

The cringe echoes throughout the room. Asahina falls backwards and lies down. "And while there've been plenty of cringey moments in my time here, to this day, nothing has topped my first day here." She shot back up right. "OH, does this mean it's my turn to pick someone?"

"Yeah, that's usually how it goes." Mukuro deadpanned.

"Well alrighty, then. Truth or dare, Mukuro?" Asahina answered.

"Dare." She responded, without a second's hesitation.

Chihiro observed semi-passively as several rounds of truths and dares played out. Embarrassing secrets are revealed, and people are forced into embarrassing, but harmless tasks. He's thankful, for once, for his small stature and minimal social presence, as it provides him some degree of protection from the voracious socialization going on around him. But when he sees Junko finishing up the dare she was given, he starts to tense up.

Junko eyed the room, looked everyone in the eye, sized them up. After she's seen everyone, her eyes flickered between Celestia and Chihiro rapidly, and she starts to smirk. She had a look like she knows something no one else does, and Chihiro prayed for her to do anything other than call on him.

Fortunately, she turned her gaze toward Celestia. "Celestia… truth or dare?" Junko kept a playful smile on her face, but it was clear she meant business.

"Dare." Celestia responded, cool and collected as ever.

Junko grinned, and responded without all the humming and hawing the others had trying to think of imaginative dares. "Kiss Chihiro."

The room erupted into sound. Chihiro felt his heart stop. His face burned, and he tried his best to hide behind his hands. There were cries around the room that no one had to do anything they didn't want to, and that if either party was uncomfortable, Junko should just give a different dare.

Celestia shrugged. "Once challenged, I have never been one to back down. But, if Chihiro is opposed, I won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to."

Chihiro shifted his weight a couple times, took some steadying breaths, and shook his head. "N-no, don't worry about it. I'm fine." There was some more chattering from the onlookers, but Junko shushed them.

"Just get on with it, slowpokes!" she says, not quite shouting.

Chihiro held his breath. He was still sitting on the floor, Celestia seated on a chair on the other side of the circle. She got up, walked across the circle, and knelt on one knee in front of him, almost on the same level, though she was still taller than him. He straightened up slightly, to try and meet her gaze better. She reached out with her hand, gently lifted Chihiro's chin with her index finger, and began to lean in. Time slowed down. Chihiro got to see Celestia's face with a level of clarity rarely afforded to him. Her skin was flawlessly white, contrasted by the dark eye makeup brilliantly framing her crimson eyes. Chihiro closed his eyes, tilted his head, ready to accept the kiss, and

His eyes fly open when he just feels a short peck on his forehead. There's a groan of disappointment from Junko, but everyone else is just amused by the anticlimax, and glad that nothing too awkward ended up happening. As Junko accuses Celestia of being a tease, Celestia gives a subtle wink, shared only with Chihiro.

He finds it tremendously difficult to focus on the rest of the game.

Fortunately, he didn't really have to, as the group bored of it before long. "Oh, I know!" Maizono exclaimed. "Why don't we watch a movie? That's another classic, isn't it?" The group emphatically agreed.

Before long, they had picked out a movie, and arranged themselves so they all had a decent view of the screen. The director of the film may have been slightly disappointed that none of the audience that night ended up staying awake for the whole thing. In fairness, the festivities had gone fairly late into the night, and the week preceding the hangout had been hard work (as is appropriate for students of Hope's Peak), so perhaps it's not surprising that by the halfway mark, all the students had been lulled to a sleep more peaceful that most would expect from such a rowdy group.

The last thing Chihiro noticed before nodding off was how Celestia remained composed and thoroughly elegant, even in her sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chihiro had always been an early riser, so he wasn't surprised that so many of the others were still asleep when he woke up. He got up, and walked over to the TV stand, where he saw a hastily-written note.

 _Hey guys, hope you liked the sleep-over! Sakura and I have to head out for our morning training (can't miss that), so yeah! You can hang out or leave basically whenever you feel. We should do this more often, guys! - Asahina_

Chihiro put down the note, and looked to check on who else had left. Kirigiri was absent, but Maizono was still asleep, as was Touko, Junko, and Mukuro. Celestia was also still asleep, her makeup and hair still somehow perfect after the night's sleep, when even Junko's fashion had gotten disheveled. Chiriro wasn't really surprised by who remained; they all seemed like people who liked sleeping in.

Chihiro figured that being the only person around when any of them woke up was bound to be a recipe for his social ineptitude to rear its ugly head, so he quietly gathered his things, and went back to his room.

He'd barely even turned on his computer when the cheerful voice greeted him once again. "So Master, how was the sleepover? Were you overwhelmed by all the cute girls?"

Chihiro sighed. "I just got up, Alter Ego. How are you this chipper so early in the morning?"

"I think you know the answer to that already. I'm an AI, the time of day doesn't really bother me."  
"Yeah, I did know the answer to that already. I guess I'm still tired. I'm not used to staying up that late, and my early-rising habits seem to die hard."

"It seems like it's more than just that though. You're frazzled. I know what you're like when you're tired, and it's more than that."

Chihiro sighed. "You know me too well."

"Well, you designed me to!" Alter Ego flashed a V sign with his fingers.

"Alright, since you want to know so badly…" Chihiro fidgeted with his skirt. "Celestia kissed me last night."

Alter Ego's jaw dropped, and confetti rained down on the screen. "Master, this is great news! Did you confess to her?"

Chihiro tapped his chin. "No, it's not like that… We were all playing truth or dare, and she got dared to kiss me…"

"Oh." Alter Ego paused, oddly silent. "Well, I'm not sure what to do with that information. Did she seem to mind having to kiss you?"

"I don't think so? Aaah, it was so awkward!" Chihiro shook his head from side to side.

"Did the two of you communicate at all after that? Or did you just let the awkwardness hang between you, preventing even meaningful eye contact from occurring?"

Chihiro sighed. "For someone who claims not to know much about relationships, you're being creepily accurate right now Alter Ego."

"Ah, that's neither here nor there. The fact is, I'm only guessing based off of what I know about you. I can't really account for anyone else's actions. I don't have enough data points to draw conclusions for them."

"Well, I can't just leave it forever. I feel like I'm going to just explode, and if I don't clear up this awkwardness between me and Celestia, there's going to be big trouble."

"Well, I've heard that sometimes people go to their class rep when they're having this kind of interpersonal trouble? Maybe that's a good course of action."

Chihiro shook his head. "No, that won't work this time. Ishimaru's great and all, but I don't think he's any more well equipped than either of us."

"Hmm. Well, why not a different year's class rep? Maybe one of them will be able to help!"

Chihiro snapped his fingers. "That's it! I'll go to Chiaki from the 77th class! Everyone always talks about how good she is with people!"

"Well, don't let me stop you. Get going!" Alter Ego made a shooing motion with his hands.

Chihiro did take a moment to freshen up. Falling asleep leaning on a couch in Asahina's dorm and waking up before most of the others wasn't really the sort of image he liked to project. Even if he was hiding his true self, he liked to believe he had standards.

By the time he got to Chiaki's dorm room, he realized he needn't have rushed himself. A few gentle knocks, and ringings of her intercom led Chihiro to the conclusion he should have drawn before he left his own dorm: Chiaki's still asleep.

Disappointed, but not really surprised, he turned away from the door, and texted Chiaki that when she wakes up, he'd like to chat with her. He had barely made it a few steps away from Chiaki's door, when he heard it swing open. Chihiro turned around to see Chiaki's head sticking out of the doorframe, mostly obscured by the hood of an over-sized hoodie.

"Chihiro, sorry about that." Chiaki says quietly, a gentle smile on her face. "I was just in the middle of a game, so I didn't notice the knocking… or the intercom… and I only barely noticed my phone go off…" she yawns. "Sorry, didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh, that's okay. I can come back later, if you want-" Chihiro started, but was cut off.

"Oh, don't worry about that. If there's anything I can help you with, please let me!" She clenches her fists with excitement. "As class rep, it's my duty to help out all my friends in my class." She pauses for a moment. "And as a senpai, I should help out the classes underneath as well… I think."

"Well, thanks Chiaki."

"It's not a problem. Why don't you come in, I'll make us some tea." And just like that, she disappeared back into her room. Chihiro followed after her.

Chihiro entered Chiaki's room to see her turning on the kettle, standing in the kitchen. Chiaki, wearing that oversized hoodie, fuzzy flannel bottoms, and slippers was, for all intents and purposes, still in her pajamas. In her room, there were several screens on the wall, on the floor a tangle of dozens of gaming consoles, the couch almost a fortress of blankets and pillows.

"Sorry it's so messy. I wasn't really expecting company, I hope it's not a problem."

"Oh, don't worry Chiaki. It's… cozy." Chihiro replied. If he was being honest with himself, his room was only barely better.

"So, what's bothering you, Chihiro? What's on your mind?" Chiaki said, pouring the water into two cups, tea bags steeping.

"Ah… I don't really know where to start, Chiaki." Chihiro said, fidgeting with his skirt.

"Well, why don't we do something else until you do?" Chiaki offered.

"What do you mean?"

Chiaki looked at her feet. "Well… I mean a racing spin-off of Trio the Punch recently came out and I haven't had a chance to try out the multiplayer yet. Why not unwind for a bit before getting all bogged down in whatever's troubling you?"

Chihiro couldn't help but smile. "Sure, Chiaki. It's been a while since we've played a game together." They had collaborated on a few projects in their time at Hope's Peak, and had grown close. And so, they made their way to the couch, enveloped themselves in blankets, and lost themselves for some time in colourful world of "Trio the Punch Racing", their teas left to steep on the counter.

The two of them quickly lost track of time, just enjoying themselves as they played the game. Of course, Chihiro didn't really stand a chance at all against the Ultimate Gamer, but that wasn't really what this session was about. Besides, he still managed to crush the NPCs. He didn't come to be the Ultimate Programmer without spending a lot of (too much) time playing video games. But perhaps the biggest blessing for Chihiro was the fact that, for the first time in a few days, his mind was really clear, none of the many worries which so often plagued him were present.

Eventually however, they had to take a break from the brilliant colours and blaring soundtrack of the game. "I'm sure you can keep going, but my thumbs are killing me. I don't know how you do this all day." Chihiro said, trying to shake out some of the tension from his hands.

"Oh, it just comes from practice… and neglecting other duties…" Chiaki said, putting down her controller. "So, what were you worried about?"

Chihiro tensed up. "Well, I guess there's no getting around it now, eh?"

Chiaki shrugged. "You don't have to say anything you're not ready to. It probably wouldn't even help much if you're not ready to say anything."

"No, it's okay. If I don't tell anyone, it won't help me at all." Chihiro took a deep breath. "I have a crush on someone, and I don't know whether they like me back."

Chiaki hummed while she thought for a moment. "Well, why don't you just tell them?"

Chihiro sank back into the chair. "That's what I was afraid you were going to say."

Chiaki shrugged. "It's the simplest thing to do… I think."

"You know, it doesn't really help your credibility when you say something like that after giving advice." Chihiro said.

"I've heard that one before." Chiaki smiled. "But I'm pretty sure of what I'm talking about. You're better off telling them about your feelings sooner rather than later." Chiaki got a funny look in her eyes. "Last year, I almost took too long to tell someone how I felt about them, and… things could have been bad if I hadn't." She cleared her throat. "Well, that aside, I also think it's better for you to get it over with quickly. Just go get an answer for sure on whether or not they like you back. It's usually better to know something than to not know something… I guess."

Chihiro took a moment before responding. "Thanks, Chiaki. It means a lot that you'd tell me something so personal. This has really helped. I think I know what I have to do now."

"Don't worry about it, Chihiro. Anything to help out a friend." Then she yawned. "Ah, but I'm pretty tired now. I think I'll have to have a nap. We should hang out more often though, you know?"

Chihiro laughed. "Yeah, we should Chiaki." He waved goodbye, and headed back to his dorm. As he closed Chiaki's door behind him, he could swear he already heard her snores.

Back in the safety of his room, Chihiro got out his phone and typed out a message.

 _Chihiro: Hey Celestia, are you free sometime today? I have something I want to talk to you about._

Before long, the reply arrived.

 _Celestia: I should be free after dinner. Shall we meet in my dorm?_

 _Chihiro: That works for me._

 _Celestia: I look forward to it._


	5. Chapter 5

The day rushed by, and at the same time it dragged its feet. Chihiro, in the moments when he was unoccupied was frustrated and annoyed by how slowly time seemed to pass. But, whenever he found something to do, be it bug fixes in whatever program he was working on, getting portions of his homework done, or whatever task he happened upon, he would periodically look at the time, and be frightened at how quickly it was passing.

Come on, me, can you be any more indecisive? Do you want this or not? Chihiro asked himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to come up with an answer that satisfied him, so he decided to just give up on his self-interrogation.

He finished all the tasks he was obliged to do before Monday. Instead of the sigh of relief he usually would feel at the completion of these tasks, he just felt his anxiety mounting. Without something, anything, to do, he was reduced to just pacing his room and fidgeting.

It eventually got so bad that he ended up typing away at two computers, one hand per keyboard, simultaneously programming Pong in different coding languages on each computer, racing to see which he would finish first. Once he was done both (left hand won), he left his computer desk, and just collapsed on his bed.

"I'm a wreck." He said, mostly to himself.

"I can tell, Master." Alter Ego replied, snickering.

"Your support means the world to me, Alter Ego."

"Don't mention it, Master. What would you do without me?"

"I see someone figured out rhetorical questions."

"Hey, I'm not an AI for nothing, Master. Just you wait, sooner or later I'll end up creating the singularity." He puffed up his chest. "And I might even give you some of the credit!"

Despite his frazzled-ness, Chihiro managed a smile. "I know you wouldn't do that, Alter Ego."

"Oh, yeah? What do you know about me, huh?" Alter Ego crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue.

"Well, I made you, so there's that. And you know I've turned you off over much pettier things than that."

"You got me there." Alter Ego grinned. "But the point of all that was just to cheer you up. Did it work?"

Chihiro let out a long exhale. "I think it did." He looked to a clock. Dinner time.

"Enjoy your dinner, Master. And I look forward to hearing about your talk with Celestia~" The AI said with a wink, and powered off.

Chihiro did enjoy his dinner, for the most part able to stop worrying about his upcoming interaction with Celestia, and able to just enjoy the food the cafeteria provided.

Dinner came and went, and Chihiro knew, he could feel that it was now or never. He was the one who had arranged to meet with her, it would be weird if he was also the one to cancel. He had to go. Heart filled with anticipation, he made his way to her dorm.

Hand trembling, he knocked on her door.

"Is that you, Chihiro? Feel free to come in." she said through the door.

"Okay." Chihiro responded, as he opened the door and entered her room.

Celestia's room was decorated with several antique paintings hung on the walls, including a portrait of her in the Victorian style. There was even a faux chandelier hanging from the ceiling where most other dorms just had a regular light. It was clear Celestia had taken extensive measures to tailor her dorm to her personal preferences.

Celestia greeted him with a smile. "Good evening, Chihiro. To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?"

Chihiro took a deep breath. Here it was, now or never. "I, um…" Come on, just spit it out already! "I… I think I really like you, romantically, and I would really like it if we could d-date? Maybe? But if you don't like me you don't have to, because, because, b-because why would you right? But if you feel like it, we could just-" He cut himself off mid-sentence. He'd messed up. He closed his eyes and went to turn around to leave. "I… I'll just go. I'm sorry."

"Chihiro." Celestia said, voice calm and clear as ever. Chihiro mustered his energy and looked up from the floor.

"Yes, Celestia?" He said, biting his lips.

"Why are you leaving?" She said with an expression on her face Chihiro had never seen before. Her eyebrows slightly raised, her mouth a tight line.

"Uh, well, because…" Chihiro found himself incapable of offering a satisfactory answer.

"It is very rude to ask someone a question and leave before they can even give an answer." She reached out with both hands, taking one of Chihiro's. "I, for one, would be honoured to have someone like you as a romantic partner." She smiled.

Chihiro smiled back, but began frowning again quickly after. "But it's just… not that simple. Celestia, I've been… lying to you for a while. About so many things."

Celestia tilted her head in confusion. "I fail to see why that matters. None of these lies have had the intent to harm me, and even if they did, they have failed to do so. Besides," she laughs softly. "Are you not the one who confessed to me? Why are you making this harder on yourself?"

Chihiro shook his head. "Because… because I didn't think this through and I've hidden something so big from you."

"Well, why not share it? If truth be told, and we are going to be together, there is something I have been hiding from you as well." Celestia said, her usual calmness just barely wavering.

Chihiro let out his breath slowly. If she was willing to come clean with her secrets, he may as well come forward with his. "If we're going to be together, then you should know that…" He blushed deeply. "That I'm not actually a girl okay? I'm… I'm a guy." Before Celestia could respond, he started talking again. "Growing up I was always made fun of for looking so girly, and being such a weak kid, so I… I figured that if everyone thought I was a girl, they'd stop making fun of me. It makes sense for a girl to be girly, right?" He fiddled with his skirt. "A-and I just… I was never strong enough to stop pretending, so… here we are. So if you were willing to date me because you thought I was a girl, I'm sorry."

Celestia giggled. "Oh, Chihiro. It amuses me that you think something as petty as gender could affect the way I feel about you." She shook her head. "I am drawn to your essence, your personhood, and no matter how you may identify, my feelings for you will not change." Celestia lifted Chihiro's hand to her lips and kissed it. "Do you understand?"

Tears pricked Chihiro's eyes, and he hugged Celestia tight, burying his face in her shoulder. No, don't cry, you'll ruin the moment! He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Thank you so much. I've never told that to anyone. I never… I never expected anyone to understand."

Celestia was initially surprised by the hug, but quickly returned it. "I'm sorry. That seems like it must have been quite the burden. I will be glad to help you carry it." When Chihiro left the hug, Celestia took a deep breath. "Actually, if we're going to be together, there's something I have to tell you as well."

"Celestia, if you're not ready, it's absolutely okay. It's taken me years to come forward with my gender, I'm willing to wait until you're ready to-"

"No, you have to know this." Celestia looked down to the ground in an uncharacteristic display of uncertainty. "Celestia Ludenberg… is not my real name. My real name is Taeko Yasuhiro. Oh, and my hair…" She fiddled with her drill-esque ponytails. "These are just clip-ons." She removed them completely.

Chihiro was momentarily speechless. "Taeko… that's a beautiful name." He reached up and kissed her on the cheek. "And as cool as those hair drills are, I like you just as much without them. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Taeko flushed so deeply Chihiro could see her blush through all the pale makeup. She mumbled something under her breath that Chihiro couldn't quite hear.

"Sorry, I couldn't quite hear that… Hey, I'm supposed to be the shy, quiet one, right?" Chihiro said, breaking into a grin.

"Thank you Chihiro… it means so much to me." Taeko then made a sound Chihiro had never heard the refine lady make before: a shy, nervous laugh. "May… may I kiss you?"

Chihiro, too tongue-tied to properly answer, simply leaned in toward Taeko, closing his eyes, almost feeling the connection before their lips even met. As they kissed, Chihiro could not help but notice how Taeko's lips were not as cold as her once-frigid countenance had led him to believe. The whole exchange had an aura of warmth, like they were both blushing with their entire bodies; which, considering the fact that they both knew each others' deepest secrets, may be appropriate.

In the weeks to come, Chihiro and Taeko maintained the looks their classmates were used to, Chihiro with his skirts, Taeko with her regal garb. However, the constant warm, affectionate looks they gave each other, and the way their hands just gravitated toward each other quickly clued the rest of the class in to the budding relationship.

Junko noticed first, of course, and subtly teased the couple long before anyone else caught on to the relationship. Kiyoko noticed soon after, and promised she would be discrete. However, once Maizono caught on, it was all over. For all her strengths, keeping secrets had never been one of them. Before long, the whole class knew about Chihiro and Taeko, and they were the 'token couple' of the 78th class. Of course, the two of them didn't really mind.

And things carried on in this equilibrium until winter break. When the class returned to Hope's Peak after winter break, they did not see the elaborate victorian garb of Celestia, or the skirts and dresses of Chihiro. After the winter break, the class was greeted by Taeko Yasuhiro, without her pounds of makeup, in still-stylish, but definitely modern clothing, and her boyfriend, rocking the male uniform of Hope's Peak, Chihiro Fujisaki.


End file.
